He's the last of the few - the North East's oldest war veteran who will today join millions across Britain mourning his fallen comrades.

At 104 Tom Kirk is one of just a handful of survivors nationally left from the First World War.

And today, 85 years after peace was declared, Mr Kirk will mark the end of hostilities with two minutes' silence.

He was called up in 1917 from studies at Newcastle Medical School to join the Navy, in Portsmouth.

And after just weeks of training at a Navy hospital he was named surgeon probationer and placed aboard the HMS Lydiard.

Mr Kirk, born in Hartlepool in 1899, was often the only medical person on board the ship.

Mr Kirk, who lives in Woolsington, on the outskirts of Newcastle, with daughter June and granddaughter Alison, said: "I was on the Lydiard and took part in battles in the North Sea. It was an exciting time."

At the end of the war the now grandfather-of-seven and great-grandfather of 11, returned to Newcastle to complete his medical training. His war exploits earned him the nickname Admiral.

For 40 years Mr Kirk was a GP in Lincolnshire with wife Peggy Daniels, a Newcastle girl whom he met at medical college. Their daughter June, one of two children, maintained the family tradition by attending Newcastle Medical School in the late 1940s.

June married and stayed in the North East and ran children's clinics. Her children also attended the medical school and have gone on to work in Newcastle.

Richard Walker is a consultant at Rake Lane while David Walker is a consultant at the Freeman.

On retirement Mr Kirk moved back to the North East and for years delivered meals on wheels in the Stocksfield area.

He also wrote three books including the River Gang, a 1970 winner of best children's book. For the past four years he has lived with his family.

Although housebound Tom watched with pride the Remembrance Services at the weekend.

Daughter June said: "It makes us proud that he is one of the last veterans of the First World War surviving but it is also very sad. It will be the end of a very important era when they are all gone."

Page 2: Fusilier body theory

Fusilier body theory

A body found in a dig on a Flanders field is believed to be Northumberland Fusilier William Storey.

His remains were discovered more than 80 years after the World War One battles at Ypres in Belgium among the bodies of six soldiers found in the trenches during work for a motorway.

Storey, 21, was a lance corporal from Blyth who served with the 5th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers. He is thought to have died in the Third Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele, in October, 1917.

Four of the body remains had full equipment including guns and uniforms as well as personal items like pipes.

Soldiers dog-tags, made from fibre, had rotted but a brass plate was found bearing the name of Private Storey. He was the son of Robert and Elspet Storey of Blyth.